Well, that was a blast. Our first ever solo event went pretty damn well, we exceeded our expectations on numbers, all the speakers were ace and Henry Cobbe of Birthstar stole the show with a blow-up doll joke. I say consider that day seized.

As much for my remembrance as anyone else’s, here are a few things I worked out?

• Bars in Shoreditch are really expensive. Thanks to Rob from GBST for helping with that (and sponsoring the whole thing).
• Having a fast and furious pace is good but folk still need a break, and are too polite just to go and take one, even when encouraged so to do.
• Don’t be afraid to recolour speakers presentations if they use, for example, blue on blue (naming no names, Tom)
• Batteries
• Jumping between Prezi and PowerPoint is a disaster.
• Periscope is ace.
• Pay your AV guy well, and early. Thanks to Abraham Okusanya of Finalytiq for hooking us up with the mighty Fred.
• Batteries
• Carry a conference kit at all times. This is basically a big bag of money which you use to ease your way through the situations you encounter.
• People love something a little different, and a touch of informality and unstuffiness can go a long way.
• Gaffer tape. And batteries.
• The success of your event is directly correlated to the quality of your speakers first, second and third. We were blessed with ours.
• Remember to bring your tripod quick-release plate unless you fancy a trip to Oxford Street to buy a new one.

And subject matter stuff I learned:

• Political reality trumps pension industry rhetoric
• The Aussie system is more problematic than folk think
• But they can consolidate their pensions with a few clicks, which is cool
• Everyone wants more clarity and simplicity for customers. But no-one seems to want to go first.
• More than half of HL’s drawdown customers have less than a year’s income as a buffer
• Pension death benefits are perhaps too good to be true
• Webchat is awesome for engaging with people
• Pensions advice leads to IHT and broader advice more times than not
• Most clients want to know how much do I need? not how do I cash in?
• A common language around pensions that folk can actually understand would be nirvana

There are more, add your own below the line.

Our thanks to everyone who made our first gig such as a success. We honestly didn’t know if it would work, if folk would turn up, or if they would rather we just got back in our box. Turns out we can just chuck the box away.

Expect more.

#langcatlive